1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to heating elements for heating food and other products, and more particularly to a heating unit having a control center with a plurality of disposable aseptic cassettes positioned operably for the controlled heating and dispensing of food, or other flowable or semi-flowable substances.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various devices have been proposed and implemented for heating food and other flowable substances, such as glue, hot cleaners, chemicals, and the like. Although numerous devices exist for such purposes, none provide for a simple, easily controlled device for the sanitary dispensing and heating of food products such as cheese sauce, chili sauce, liquids and semi-liquids, and the like, as well as other flowable substances. The present invention provides a mechanism for rapidly heating and dispensing such items using multiple cassettes in a safe and sanitary way. If desired, the present invention may also be used to dispense cold or processed foods or other substances which it is not necessary to heat, such as ketchup, mustard, dressings, and the like.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to provide an efficient, sanitary, and conveniently used device for the controlled dispensing of heated, non-heated, or cold forms of various foods and other flowable substances.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentality""s and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
To achieve the foregoing objects, and in accordance with the purpose of the invention as embodied and broadly described herein, a disposable aseptic cassette control device is provided, for controlled dispensing heated, non- heated, or cold flowable and semi-flowable substances. The device includes a base, having a top portion, a bottom portion, a back portion, and a front portion. The base has a container portion, a air compressor mechanism, and a power receiving mechanism for receiving power from a power source. A plurality of aseptic cassettes are operably mounted and positioned on the base and include a dispensing mechanism for dispensing flowable or semi-flowable materials. Automatic or manual controls for turning the heating and dispensing device xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9coffxe2x80x9d, and for controlling the temperature within the plurality of aseptic cassettes are positioned on the base element.